WEBVTT THEY ARE MAKING SOLID PROGRESSIN THEIR EFFORTS TO SHORE UP THEDAMAGED EMERGENCY SPILLWAY.LAKE OROVILLE HAS DROPPED MORETHAN 20 FEET THANKS TO THERELEASE OF ALL THIS WATER,GUSHING OUT OF THE DAMAGEDSPILLWAY AT THE RATE OF 100,000CUBIC FEET PER SECOND.>> WE'RE DROPPING SOMEWHERAROUND EIGHT INCHES AN HOUR.MIKE: MEANWHILE REPAIRS ON THEFAST TRACK, THANKS TO THEARSENAL OF EQUIPMENT ANDCONSTRUCTION CREWS HERE TODAYPLACING 1200 TONS OF MATERIAL INTHE DAMAGED SPILLWAY PER HOUR.>> WE'LL CONTINUE TO MANAGE THRESERVOIR RELEASES, AGAIN AS WELOOK AT THESE STORMS COMING IN,WE'RE FEELING VERY GOOD ABOUTTHE RESERVOIR CONDITIONS.MIKE: BUT PUBLIC SAFETYCHALLENGES PERSIST IN THEEVACUATION ZONE.>> MY UNDERSTANDING IS THATWE'VE HAD A NUMBER OF BURGLARIE.OVER THE LAST SEVERAL DAYS WE'VEHAD SEVERAL HUNDRED LAWENFORCEMENT OFFICERS IN ALL THEAREAS WHERE THE EVACUATIONS TOPLACE PATROLLING TO TRY TOPREVENT THATMIKE: AND SOME 30 MILES TO THESOUTH OF OROVILLE, WE DISCOVEREDTHIS CREEPY SCENTHE OLD MARYSVILLE CEMETERYLITERALLY BURIED UNDER AT LEASFOUR FEET OF WATER, A VERYSOMBER REMINDER OF THE POWER OFMOTHER NATURE.AND ALSO THIS WARNING FROMCAL-FIRE FOR EVACUEES RETURNINGHOME.>> SIX INCHES OF MOVING WATERWILL TAKE THE FEET FROMUNDERNEATH YOU.A FOOT TO TWO FEET OF MOVING

Meanwhile, repairs were on the fast track, thanks to the arsenal of equipment and construction crews on site. Crews are placing 1,200 tons of material per hour into the erosion scar on crippled emergency spillway.

Mike Luery/KCRA

“We'll continue to manage the reservoir releases again as we look at these storms coming in,” Croyle said. “We're feeling very good about the reservoir conditions.”

But, public safety challenges persist in the evacuation zone.

“We’ve had a number of burglaries over the last several days,” Butte County Sheriff Korey Honea said. “Several hundred law enforcement officers in all the areas where the evacuations took place are patrolling to try to prevent that.”

But the bigger danger, Honea said is the unauthorized use of drones.

“Private people should refrain from coming up here and flying their drones over the site,” he added.

With helicopters flying directly overhead delivery sand, silica and crushed rocks, the construction site is considered to be a No-Fly zone for unauthorized drones.

“If they are up there flying those drones. it’s going to interfere with our air operations," Honea said. "If you interfere with the air operations. you slow down the progress -- and that’s a threat to public safety.”

Meanwhile, PG&E crews were busy on Wednesday grounding the transmission lines below the auxiliary spillway, in case of a lightning strike.

“While that transmission corridor is out of service, we are working to rebuild that line by rerouting a portion of the line away from the spillway," PG&E spokesman Paul Moreno said. "We started work on that today to dig holes and clear brush.”

Some 30 miles to the south of Oroville, the historic Marysville Cemetery was literally buried under at least 4 feet of water. It served as a somber reminder of the power of Mother Nature -- and also provided a warning from Cal Fire for evacuees returning home.

“Six inches of moving water will take the feet from underneath you,” Cal Fire spokesperson Scott McLean said. “A foot to two feet of moving water will move a good size van or car down that stream.”